Is the "great white hope" still a thing?

As the title say.

We all know that a few decades ago, being a good/decent us white hw was a surefire way to earn millions. But it seems to me that the trend has ended with cooney, or Morrison to a lesser extent (or maybe, maybe baby joe messi if you want to push it).

Now my question is : would a good white us hw still generate a disproportionate of attention and money, or has the sport grown beyond that?

 

Hard to say, it definitely wouldn't hurt but would it be much of a boost... Boxing fanbase seems like it's a lot less white than it used to be (probably due to the UFC). I know Fury isn't a white American per se, but he's as close as one could be (without actually being one, please, don't tell me he's a gypsy ) and I don't think it helped him much for mainstream attention.

 

Its true that there haven't been any good white american hw for a while. The only one i can think of is kownacki (and calling him good is a.hell of a stretch), but he's probably viewed more as a pole than an american by a lot of fans.

But yes, as you said, i think that boxing fans tends to be more ethnically diverse and open minded than a few decades ago. Weirdly enough (at least for me), according to a recent study, boxing is very popular among millenials (much more than mma), and millenials are usually not parochial

 

The Great White Hope thing has legacy. Legacy means something of historical significance with modern day relevance or import.

But that legacy is steadily diminishing. It had a brief renaissance in 1983vwhen Don King pumped it for all it was worth to cash in on Cooney.

He tried it again in 1995 with McNeeley.

In the 1990s, Wally Matthews AT THE NY Post said that Golota ONLY got title shots ". because he's White "

That wasn't true. Matthews also said the Klitschkos got favourable treatment because they were white.

He provided no evidence.. And how could he, there was none.

Nobody clamoured for a White Champ.....

When Haye was slated to fight Wlad in 2009 and 2011, the British boxing public and media backed Haye fervently and unanimously. Same again when Wlad came to London to fight Joshua....


Being White was important. To the Max Kellermans of the World. And for all the wrong reasons at that.

 

Fury elicits mixed approval/disapproval over here. The establishment media would like very much for Joshua to beat him. The establishment boxing authorities woukd probably like it too. Most of the fans just want the Joshua fight to happen and for either man to lose because "Josh is a pussy" or because "Fury is rude", but it's hardly ethnic.

 

I don't know if the great white hope is a thing but some people say Canelo became a big ppv star because of his red hair, fair skin and freckles. Looking white hasn't hurt him. And that's the biggest gripe some of these Urban YT boxing channels (like Akhi, EGO, ect)have with Canelo. They can't stand that their favorite fighters don't have the Marquee Canelo has. And somehow gets preferential treatment. The complexion for the protection.

 

Surely Plant qualifies before Kownacki

 

Plant doesn't consider himself white but white chocolate.

 

I dont get it?

 

I don't know if he's calling Kownacki and Plant both GWH or not.

 

Surely Caleb Plant qualifies as a good white American fighter?

 

Just as soon as his bruises go down

 

is plant a hw?

 

He must be. He fought Canelo.

 

It wasn't his personality, that much is for sure.

 

Shit sorry, didn't see he meant heavyweight.

 

Besides woukdnt Kelly Pavlik have supplanted (ha ha) Caleb?

Is EVERY white fighter a "Hope"?

I remember Haye was touting his upcoming bout with Monte Barrett and he was justifying it on the basis that Barrett had just blown out a "Great White Hope".... (Tye Fields) and that this was great justification of Barrett as an opponent.

This was around 2010 and its the last time I can recall any serious fights involving that kind of language. The fight was for the WBA Heavyweight Title that Haye had won from Valuev.

The point being that by then, a whole host of White fighters had won HW titles so presumably the entire "White Hope" thing had been satisfied, but Haye acted as if it were the burning issue of the day.

 

It's More of a Great (AMERICAN) White Hope Philosophy, Nowadays...

Prior to the Klit Brothers, Being Good and White was ALL That Mattered Towards Garnering Appeal in Boxing, Whether You were American or Otherwise...Andrew Golota was Fairly Popular in America Until He Mentally IMPLODED One Tooooooooooooo Many Times...

Vitali Klit Seemed to Be DEVELOPING an American Fan Base After the Lennox Slugfest, But he Fought Soooooo INFREQUENTLY and Most Mainstream Fans Couldn't Differentiate Him from Wlad, Anyways...There was a Time REED Thought ANY White Heavyweight Champion Would OWN Mainstream America, But it Never Happened w/the Klits DESPITE Their 2 Decades of Admitted Heavyweight DOMINANCE...

Tyson Fury's ALREADY More of an American Mainstream Entity Than the Klits Were Combined...After Kicking a Highly Touted American's Ass IN AMERICA, Fury Had the Assembled Masses in the Palm of His Hand, Singing "Bye Bye Ms. American Pie" Lyrics w/Him...But w/That Said, Fury Isn't a HOUSEHOLD American Name, Per Se...

w/Soviet Bloc Fighters Going PRO in Increasing Numbers, a GOOD White Fighter Isn't the "Novelty" it May Have Been Decades Ago....Hell, Most Current Pound for Pound Lists are Comprised of FAIR SKINNED Fighters, Predominantly...

Only Thing Missing is a White AMERICAN Heavyweight...If You Could Reincarnate Tommy Morrison, Give Him a CHIN and DISCIPLINE, He'd OWN Mainstream America...

UFC has Contributed to the DECREASED Visibility on Being a Great White Hope Also...More Than Half the UFC's Roster Consists of White Fighters....Successful White Fighters are COMMONPLACE in UFC...






REED

 

If You Think About It, Jake Paul is a Great White American Hope of Sorts and the "Machine" Behind Him AIN'T Stupid...

Paul's "Career" Took Off After His KO of Nate Robinson; KO'ing JJ Reddick, Kyle Korver or Some WHITE NBA Player Wouldn't Have Resonated as Much...KO'ing Black, Musclebound Tyron Woodley was a BETTER, More PROFITABLE Look than the Askren Bout, as Well...

The Fact Jake Paul Is Not Just a Youtuber, But a WHITE Youtuber Adds an Unspoken Appeal to His Exploits, an Element of SURPRISE When he's Successful, Whether People are HONEST Enough to Admit it or Not...






REED

 

Was golota really popular in America, or was his popularity limited to the polish diaspora?

One thing that the euro champs/contenders of the last few years showed, is that being white is rather unrelevant if you're not american, when it comes to popularity. The klits were so unpopular that hbo stopped showing their fights iirc. Povetkin, Valuev, Chagaev, Browne and Ibragimov wouldn't have been able to fill a coffee shop for one pf their fights. As you said, Fury is a bit more popular, but still far from a.mainstream name


Also, i think that tyson insane popularity might have killed some of the appeal of the great white hope. Seems to me that finding the next tyson is now the new mantra

 

Golota Had a MOMENT, But it was Fleeting...

The WAY He Whupped Riddick Bowe's Ass RESONATED and the Melee After Bowe I was a Mainstream Sports Story...So the NAME "Andrew Golota" was Out There...Even the DQ Loss in the RE, Where Golota Once Again Beat the Brakes Off Bowe, Didn't Dull His Growing Level of Shine...

In Hindsight, it'd Have Been SMART to Milk a Couple Gimme's, Some EASY Fights, to Build the Golota Brand...But he was Unfortunately Matched Against Lennox Lewis and the Rest is History...Mind You, Bowe II and Lennox were PPV Bouts Though, Proof the Golota Name Carried SOME Juice...

The Soviet Bloc Fighters You Mentioned were Particularly RIGID in Terms of Personalities, Which Makes Loma and Usyk REFRESHING...Most British Fighters Have a DEGREE of Personality to Them, from What REED's Seen, Fury Being an AliESQUE Exception...

agREED on Your Final Sentiment...A KO Artist Will Always Resonate, Regardless of Color...Wilder BUILT a Decent Following and Had Fury Not Gotten Up in Round 12 of Their 1st Fight, No Telling How POPULAR Wilder Would Be Today...






REED

 

I must say that im surprised that wilder wasnt more popular than he was. Had the look and the devastating ko. But as
you said, he might have turned mainstream had the ref stopped the first fight

 

If anything, I actually think it's the other way round and people look for the next black hope. Playing into that idea of "the next Mayweather, the next Tyson" etc

 

Weirdly enough, for all the talk of racism in boxing (which existed, no doubt), the most popular fighters were pretty much always black

 

Do You Mean "Popular" in the TRUEST Sense or "Most Talked About"???...




REED

 

There's Only a 'Hope' When a Dearth of Talented/Viable Fighters Exists...

agREED There's an Immediate NEED for Most Fans to ATTACH a Floyd/Roy/Ali/Tyson Label on a Black Fighter, But That's Not Due to a LACK of Good Black Boxing Talent, It's a SUPERSTAR Void Needing to Be Filled....

For Instance, Spence/Crawford/Tank/Dev/Shakur/Boots are All TALENTED AF, But None of Them are Mainstream STARS...




REED

 

In both sense. I think it was arum that made this remark when everyone was accusing him of neglecting pbf career, and putting too much emphasis on latino boxers. Said that pbf could become a mega star, since the biggest stars in boxing have historically been black, but that pbf was hard to work it.

Funnily enough, Arum prediction turned out to be true, once PBF dropped his old inept ass

 

I know Mesi was mentioned but he might need a bit more consideration. It would be dishonest to simply attribute his huge popularity (relative to his accomplishments/skills) only to his skin color but I cannot think of any other American hw fighter in recent years receiving that kind of hype.

 

Wilder Tried to Emulate Ali's Social Justice Relevance, Similarly Rocking "Black Pride" On His Sleeves, But He LACKED Ali's Charisma and Grace...

Ali Could Talk ABOUT White People in a Room FULL of White People, and Have Them SMILING, APPLAUDING Even...He Could Exude HUMILITY Whilst Calling Himself "The Greatest"...

Comparatively, Wilder Came Across as UNLEARNED, SPITEFUL and ANGRY...

Still, if Fury Doesn't Rise from the Dead, Wilder Likely Goes On to Become Undisputed, KO'ing Joshua...He'd Be an American Household Name By Now, GUARANfuckingTEED....









REED

 

Nah, it's only really since Joe Louis where black fighters have been popular. Robinson took it further but before then it was exceedingly rare for a black fighter to be popular, or even respected.